Mumbai, Jan. 10 (PTI): Nissim Ezekiel, the doyen of Indo-Anglian poets, died here yesterday. He was 79.

Ezekiel, a former professor of English, had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for the past couple of years.

Besides being India’s foremost poet writing in English, he had encouraged many who later made a name for themselves as leading poets, including Dom Moraes.

Born in a Jewish family, he was educated in Mumbai and had translated many works into Marathi.

Ezekiel received several awards and was conferred the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1983 and the Padmashri in 1988.